A Florida teenager faces first-degree murder charges after police say he intentionally drove his car into a boy he bullied at school, ran him over, and left him for dead.
Elijah Emmans, 17, was arrested and charged in connection with the murder of 16-year-old Mikhail Cuba.
The deadly hit-and-run happened Nov. 20, 2025, in Orlando, according to WOFL. Cuba was discovered in critical condition and died at a local hospital.
The Florida Highway Patrol initially investigated Cuba’s death and charged Emmans with vehicular homicide.
However, after the law enforcement agency found surveillance video showing the teen had been deliberately hit, they transferred the case over to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, which upgraded Emmons’ vehicular homicide charge to murder last week.
Cuba’s grandmother, Ecstasy Mooty, said that Cuba was riding his e-bike home from a basketball game when he was hit. Mooty said that Emmans was part of a group of students that bullied Cuba for years.
“That’s a really sick, sick, individual. That’s not even a person, I wouldn’t even classify that as an animal,” Mooty said.
After the bullying intensified, Cuba’s family had to pull him out of high school to homeschool him.
“They’re cowards because they did it from behind. He didn’t see them coming,” Mooty said. “But they’re going to see me coming. They’re going to see me every day in court, and I hope it haunts them.”
Mooty said that more tragedy befell her family after Cuba’s death.
Months after Cuba was killed, his mother fell into a deep depression while mourning the loss of her son and died from an accidental overdose.
Now, Mooty is demanding justice for the Cuba family.
“When you lose the thing that you love the most, it will drive you to even be self-destructive,” Mooty said. “Being without your only child. Who is just a child. So much promise. It just broke her heart, and she died in her sleep.”
Cuba’s obituary says the teen “loved riding bikes, finding peace and freedom in the open road. His honor, nobility, and dignity were beyond measure, and he touched countless lives with his warmth and compassion.”
